We aimed to screen children aged 18-48 months in the general population of nine Russian regions for risk of mental, behavioral and developmental disorders (MBDDs) including autism spectrum disorders (ASD) using an original screening tool. The prevalence of the risk for MBDDs is 1307:10,000 (13.07%), the prevalence of clinically verified cases of…

Truncating variants of the "MAGEL2" gene, one of the protein-coding genes within the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) critical region on chromosome 15q11, cause Schaaf-Yang syndrome (SYS)--a neurodevelopmental disorder that shares several clinical features with PWS. The current study sought to characterize the neurobehavioral phenotype of SYS…

This study compared maternal responsiveness to children with two neurodevelopmental disorders sharing different but, in some cases, overlapping social phenotypes--Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)--and explored the relations between maternal responsiveness and child emotional/behavioural problems (EBP). The sample included…

Pica is a potentially deadly form of self-injurious behavior most frequently exhibited by individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Research indicates that pica can be decreased with behavioral interventions; however, the existing literature reflects treatment effects for small samples (n = 1-4) and the overall success of such…

Three levels of investigation underlie all biologically based attempts at classification of behaviorally defined developmental and psychiatric disorders: Level A, pseudo-categorical classification of mostly dimensional descriptions of behaviors and their disorders included in the 2013 American Psychiatric Association's Fifth Edition of the…

We conducted functional analyses of pica for three individuals with varying levels of intellectual disabilities. In addition, two indirect assessment instruments (the "Motivational Assessment Scale [MAS]", and the "Questions About Behavioral Function [QABF]") were also administered to both the parent and teacher of the child…

Expanding on Reese "et al." [2003], functional behavioral assessment interviews [O'Neill "et al.", 1997] concerning disruptive behavior were conducted with parents of 23 children with autism (6 females, 17 males, chronological ages [CA] 24-60 months) and 23 controls without autism pair-matched for CA, developmental age and sex. All children…

Types of psychiatric and behavioral disturbances were reviewed for 169 preschoolers with developmental disabilities admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit. Differences were found in the proportion of some diagnoses and behavior problems across cognitive functioning level and across age; 72 percent had 1 or more medical diagnoses. (Author/SW)